“Allyson Felix had this properly measured – it was no contest.” – Ato Boldon on U.S. women winning gold in 4×400 relay for sixth consecutive Games

RIO DE JANEIRO – August 21, 2016 – NBC Olympics’ primetime coverage of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, continued Saturday night on the networks of NBCUniversal.

Primetime host Bob Costas opened up Saturday night’s coverage on NBC from NBC Olympics’ studio located inside the International Broadcast Center in Rio with a highlight of Brazil winning the gold medal in soccer against Germany on a dramatic penalty kick by Neymar. The shootout was replayed in entirety at the end of the primetime broadcast, along with the playing of the Brazilian national anthem.

Day 15’s primetime show was highlighted by Allyson Felix leading the U.S. women’s 4x400m relay to its sixth consecutive gold medal, giving her an Olympic record six individual gold medals; LaShawn Merritt anchoring the U.S. men to gold in the 4x400m relay; American Matthew Centrowitz winning the men’s 1500m to give the U.S. its first gold medal in the event since 1908; Great Britain’s Mo Farah clinching gold in the men’s 5000m to complete his historic double-double; and defending champion American David Boudia earning bronze in the men’s platform diving final.

Coverage on NBC also included an exclusive one-on-one interview between TODAY’sMatt Lauer and American swimmer Ryan Lochte, regarding the incident that took place in Rio last weekend. Click here for the full transcript of the interview that aired tonight in primetime on NBC. Click here to watch the interview.

Following are notes and quotes from tonight’s coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal:

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TRACK AND FIELD – NBC

Analyst Ato Boldon on Team USA winning the women’s 4x400m relay for a record sixth consecutive time: “No other country has won more than two in a row – and now the United States has come and won their sixth in a row.”

Boldon: “Last year, Williams-Mills came off the turn and ran by the United States to give Jamaica the world title. Allyson (Felix) had this properly measured, and it was no contest in the final 100m.”

Play-by-play announcer Tom Hammond on American Matthew Centrowitz: “He’s got it! The first American to win the 1500m at the Olympic Games since 1908!”

Analyst Craig Masback on Centrowitz: “We’ve been following the rise of Matthew Centrowitz, since he first medaled in 2011 at the World Championships. As I mentioned, a disappointment in 2012 when he missed the podium by four one-hundredths of a second. He calls himself a strength runner, but he won that race with speed.”

Analyst Tim Hutchings on Great Britain’s Mo Farah: “With all due respect, they didn’t throw much at him…for Mo Farah, it was ‘Thank you very much, I’ll take that off the plate.’”

Masback on American Paul Chelimo winning the silver medal in the 5000m and the U.S. distance running: “Very significant, a silver medal for Paul Chelimo – no medals for the U.S. in this event since 1964…this is the sixth medal for the U.S. in middle and long distance running, the most since 1912.”

Chelimo to reporter Lewis Johnson, learning of his initial disqualification during his post-race interview on NBC (Chelimo was later reinstated and awarded the silver medal): “I was trying to go to the outside to get a position, because they were blocking me in, they were pushing me to the rail. That’s what I was trying to save myself from – all of the pushing, so I was trying to go the outside and stay to the outside. They wouldn’t allow me to go where I was, because he was blocking me…I was trying to stay behind Mo Farah, but they were blocking me. I was trying to defend myself and go to the outside…I can’t believe it. I was running a fair race. I wasn’t trying to impede someone. I was trying to go to the outside because they kept blocking me the whole time, the whole race…I want to appeal that because my intention was not to block anyone.”

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DIVING – NBC

Analyst Potter on Boudia’s last dive, clinching the bronze medal: “He said he hated this dive. But he also said he wanted pressure on it to give him the adrenaline he needs to complete these somersaults. He’s had trouble completing the four-and-a-half somersaults. He wanted pressure? He got it…this is better than he’s been doing. I think it was a good move to put this last.”

Potter on American David Boudia’s penultimate dive in the men’s platform final: “What a dive. This is the dive that won him the gold medal in London, and it is going to score big – maybe bigger than what he did in London for the last round. This is the best one he’s done.”

Play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson on China’s Chen Aisen, who won gold in the men’s platform final: “Two gold medals, and a crushing final dive. Apprentice no more.”

Potter on China’s Qui Bo: “Nobody that had been around him the last four years would ever think that he would not be on the podium. He just had the pressure get to him.”

Potter on Great Britain’s Tom Daley, who won silver in London and led the prelims, not making the men’s platform final: “His dreams have just been shattered, because that dive is very deficient. Jane (his coach) knows it, Lance (his fiancée) knows it, his mother knows it.”

Robinson: “This will be, I think, the biggest single headline out of these Olympic games in Great Britain. Tom Daley, astoundingly, will not make the Olympic final…for the last two weeks we’ve been watching diving practices, we never would have thought this.”

Potter: “No. Every practice I watched was so exciting, because Tom was diving so spectacularly.”

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SOCCER – NBCSN

Play-by-play announcer Arlo White on the gold medal-clinching goal by Neymar, as Brazil defeated Germany in penalty kicks in men’s soccer: “At the Maracana, in Rio de Janeiro, Neymar to win the gold medal for Brazil – and scores! Brazil strike Olympic gold for the first time in their history! They’ve completed the set of international titles at last, and it’s Neymar who is the hero!”

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